Tesla Model S Complaints (2021)

176 consumer complaints on file.

#11535327July 30, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The adaptive cruise control has had phantom braking issues from day 1 of ownership (and through every software release from Tesla as I always update when a new one is available). Most of the time it's not possible to identify exactly what triggers the event. However, on July 27th 2023 I drove from Phoenix to Sacramento via I10, I210, I5 and had 6 phantom braking events. 5 were directly correlated with passing a semi with me in the #1 lane and the semi in #2. I had the car in adaptive cruise control mode, but I maintained steering control. The car approached the semis normally, but as soon as the car was completely alongside the truck it began braking aggressively. More than just allowing regenerative braking to slow the car, the brakes were applied. This did not happen with every passed truck, maybe 1 in 10. One of the 6 phantom events could not be correlated with any clearly identifiable cause. There is no warning when the car begins decelerating so it is a surprise to the driver. Further it is an extreme hazard to following vehicles who WILL be forced to react. I have not directly reported my specific events to Tesla. For one thing they have no reasonable way to do this (online access, phone access. The number they give to report problems hits an automated phone tree where there is no option for reporting issues). Clearly Tesla is well aware of their phantom braking issues. I'm reporting this to you now in order to apply more pressure to Tesla to finally resolve this. In general, considering some of the other phantom braking episode beyond this one specific trip, I have occasionally noticed the car displays a yellow signal light on the driver's display but only while phantom braking has already begun. I believe this is case where the car believed it saw a caution sign or signal light in it's cameras and was reacting to that. There were no signal lights, but the sun was either coming in that direction or reflected off of other vehicles or buildings.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11535138July 28, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The horn is a small button in a very small area of the steering wheel. The center of the steering wheel which acts as a horn on almost all other vehicles, does not work. In the event of an emergency, and the horn needs to be activated, it is difficult to find and press the small button, and the instinct would be to press the center of the steering wheel, which would not work and the horn would not activate.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11534764July 27, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Adaptive Cruise Control. The vehicle in this mode suddenly brakes for no apparent reason which under the right circumstances could cause a collision. Tesla Service Center looked at it but could not reproduce. This has happened many times on various dates not just once. Sometimes it happens more than once on a trip, sometimes it does not happen. This happens with no warning. Tesla knows about this problem for years but has failed to correct.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11534360July 25, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I was in the middle of a turn when someone veered into my lane. I tried to honk my horn to warn the other driver, but I couldn’t find it. The button was on the other side of the steering because the yoke was turned. I couldn’t find the horn button in time to avert a collision. Fortunately I was able to steer away in time.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11533847July 22, 2023
POWER TRAIN
Front axle half shafts have failed two times requiring replacement (on 3rd set now). During acceleration the steering wheel vibrates violently. Tesla service center diagnosed both times that front half shafts needed to be replaced. There seems to be some design or manufacturing problem - these items keep failing. The cost to fix is ~$1,650 so I delayed as long as possible until vibration became unbarable. First replacement was done under warranty, second replacement was required ~16,000 later and I was forced to pay for it. There is a Tesla service bulletin about this which I saw online.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11533020July 18, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Going north on New York State highway I-87, there is a bridge which results in Tesla Autopilot erroring EVERY TIME AND EVERY DAY and results in a "Full Self Driving Error" which causes Telsa car to brake along with putting on hazard lights. Issue was reported to Tesla, but they responded that it happens to everyone under this bridge so there is nothing they can do right now. The fault occurs on a busy highway at 55mph zone, and happens 100% of time going under the bridge, every single day. The bridge is wide enough that shadow results in error and car loses all understanding of what lane it is in. Today at the Tesla service center, the employees all reported the same issue as well and that there is no idea if it will be fixed. Happens only when using FSD/AP driving support; manual driving is unaffected.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11532951July 18, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
There was a trash can on the edge of the road and my vehicle was in autopilot/FSD mode and for some reason it swerved over too close to the edge of the road. I intervened in time to avoid hitting the trash can head-on but it still struck the passenger side mirror and scraped across the passenger rear fender. The mirror got slammed into the passenger side door causing damage to the door and trim at the bottom of the passenger side window.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11531626July 11, 2023
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On 10Jul2023, approximately 1:00pm, while traveling southbound on Hwy 69, south of Toll Road 49 in Lindale, Texas, while driving in the right lane and speed set at 75mph, when all of a sudden the car activates the right blinker and - without slowing - pulls into a fairly short, dedicated right turn lane that turns into a business. At the end of the turn lane is a drainage culvert. The route of travel did NOT include a turn and the car should have been continuing straight down the highway. The car enters the turn lane and never slows from 75mph. I immediately hit the turn signal button to use the camera to get a look to my left to see if a car is there and also look over my left shoulder when there was no response (no camera) to activating the left turn signal. This all occurs as my hand is grabbing the yoke and my foot moving to the brake. I see the blue "path indicating line" wavering left and right and then lock into a right turn into the business parking lot at the end of this dedicated turn lane. Again, there is a culvert at the end of the turn lane also. As soon as I see over my shoulder that the lane to my left is clear the car attempts to make a 90 degree right turn at 75mph. At that exact moment I am able to yank the yoke left and tap the brake to disengage the Full Self Driving Beta as the car is starting the right hand turn. The rear end of the car breaks loose and slides as I get the yoke steered into the right hand lane of the highway. I allow the speed to bleed off to get the rear tires behind me and continue on. My dog has been thrown around the back of the car, my wife banged her head on the passenger side window. This whole event occurred in mere seconds.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11530541July 5, 2023
SUSPENSION
The control arm fore links of the car failed after 6000 miles
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11526251June 9, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Third time this week I have been thrown forward into the steering wheel with no cars or objects surrounding me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11522364May 16, 2023
WHEELS
On both rear tires on the inner part of the tire the tread on Michelin 295 30zr21 is literally coming apart on both tires. Both at rear , no pot holes have been hit. rims are immaculate. Car was purchased brand new and only has 9800 miles. Almost like the tires are a used retreaded tires on a truck and the tread is literally detaching from the sidewalls. Luckily issue occurred while driving 25mph. Couldn’t imaging what would happen if driving fast. Tesla does not cover michelens issue but felt this needs to be reported. Someone will die if they blew out at higher speads. Will have bill from Tesla when tires are replaced.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11521948May 14, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Another automatic phantom braking throwing us toward in the car with no objects or other cars in proximity.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520996May 8, 2023
STRUCTURE:BODY
Drivers door will not latch and car thinks the door is closed/latched. This allows the driver to drive away with the door unlatched. I've had to open and close the door while moving to get it to latch which is obviously unsafe. In attached picture you can see how open the door is but the car gives no indication this is the case. Tesla has confirm the issue and has tried twice to correct the issue but it has not been corrected yet. No warning lights or error messages even with the door obviously open.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520934May 8, 2023
SEAT BELTS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Oncoming vehicle suddenly turned in front of 2021 Tesla Model S resulting in collision at 34mph. Automatic braking did not engage, collision warning system failed to sound alert. Air bags deployed however seat belt completely spooled out causing the driver to strike the windshield and break the glass by contact with the top of the head. The vehicle was a total loss and the dealer never inspected the car.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520260May 3, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
When using adaptive cruise control vehicle randomly applies brakes while driving at highway speeds, for no reason. Sometimes braking is severe, sometimes moderate, sometimes light. In the instances of severe or moderate braking, a real danger exists that following vehicle will be unable to stop and will collide. This happens relatively frequently, particularly on some highways. Sometimes multiple incidents occur on one drive.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11519472April 28, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The tiny selection on the yoke to sound the cars horn requires me to take my eyes off the road to find it. This is unsafe. Several times I needed to sound the horn and was unable to in time. The worst instance was when I was making a U-turn in a 4-way intersection and needed to sound the horn to warn off a driver about to turn in front of me from the other direction. The yoke was inverted about 270 degrees and it was impossible to find the tiny horn symbol. There needs to be a conventional horn in the center of the yoke that can be pushed quickly without diverting eyes from the road. This has occured multiple dates that I do not specifically recall.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11519299April 27, 2023
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, SERVICE BRAKES, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On March 19, 2023, I put my Tesla in drive and it went into reverse . When I tried to brake the speed accelerated. We were unable to stop the vehicle, while driving in reverse the car hit two mailboxes and two ceramic flower pots. It has been over 6 weeks and Tesla will not return my calls or messages. My insurance company looked at the body of the vehicle for a repair estimate. Nothing indicated that there was a problem prior to the incident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11518088April 20, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
To honk the horn, you have to find and push a very small button on the steering wheel. I have been in multiple situations where I have been unable to honk the horn in time to avert a potential accident because I could not find the horn button. Tesla appears to have recognized the problem and added a horn to the airbag on new vehicles, but they have refused to offer any retrofit.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11517040April 14, 2023
VISIBILITY
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model S. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V702000 (Visibility) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11516156April 9, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Vehicle is typically operated in FSD Beta mode. I have had approximately a thousand driver initiated disengagements due to unsafe or potentially unsafe operation in Beta mode. At times there have been indirect indications of unintended vehicle operation potentially due to anomalies with system hardware and communications between modules and control systems. The refreshed S and Y models feature a vehicle display behind the yoke steering wheel. When at stop signs, stop lights, or when turning, the yoke (in an upright or near upright position) blocks safety related displays indicating intended vehicle path, bollards and critical safety-related driver annotations. Visibility of these safety critical displays is further degraded when stopped making unprotected turns with the yoke erratically moving. The ability of the driver to safely takeover control of the vehicle is further degraded by the chaos associated with the yoke whipping back and forth on unprotected turns, and drivers and passengers being unable to see critical displays. When the vehicle, driver and passengers all have a reduced capability to ensure safe operation the chaos further degrades safe vehicle operation. At a minimum an over the air recall is required to add safety critical displays/annotations to the large rectangular display between the driver and front passenger similar to Y and 3 models. As noted above I also have hardware related concerns on my vehicle which at times appear to be masked/accommodated by the firmware but are more evident on secondary systems independent of safe vehicle operations.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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